The smell of fresh paint is immediate upon entering the Ketchum-Sun Valley Heritage & Ski Museum.
But the clean coat of white is just the finishing touch on a renaissance of the three Forest Service buildings in Ketchum's Forest Service Park. While the exterior of the buildings remains true to their 1933 history—white wood siding and green roofs—museum Director Megan Lengyel has gutted the interiors of the two that show exhibits.
She started the renovations soon after taking the position in February, turning the one-room buildings into multiple rooms of shifting walls. The vertical wall slabs slide along ceiling rails and hang a few inches above the newly tiled floor, enabling Lengyel to change room layouts in mere minutes.
She said the purpose of the walls is to break up the experience into chewable chunks of information instead of standing in one long room trying to swallow everything at once. The museum's two buildings can now be separated into 12 exhibits, showcasing objects of Sun Valley's skiing history in one wing, life at the turn of the century when mining and ranching dominated in another, and American Indian artifacts found at Elkhorn Springs in a third.
"Each of the rooms is a period at the end of a sentence," she said.
The museum has even installed the interior of Ketchum's first bank, from the turn of the century.
Lengyel said she's careful to make sure none of the exhibits is cluttered. In fact, she keeps the number of objects to a minimum so that the exhibits are more poignant while still being educational.
"Before, there was tons of stuff everywhere. We have really, really great artifacts, but they just weren't presented in a good way," she said, adding that the museum has more than 2,000 objects, ranging from Ernest Hemingway's typewriter to Gretchen Fraser's Olympic sweater and medals.
Fraser was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing, earning it at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948 for slalom. She lived in Sun Valley and can be seen in a commonly reproduced painting of her standing on skis with two yellow ribbons holding her blond hair in pigtails. Above her head is written "Sun Valley Idaho" in cursive letters.
"People just start laughing when they come in," she said. "They can't believe it's the same place. It looks like a real museum."
However, the museum's third building remains cluttered. It serves as storage for most of the 2,000 objects not on display—resembling a teenager's closet—and is in the process of being re-cataloged, a job Lengyel said she hopes can be completed by the end of summer.
She also has more plans for the museum's renovations.
"This isn't the end-all," she said, looking around at the newly painted interior. "This is just where the museum's at."
But the museum, a nonprofit, is constrained by its resources. And, Lengyel said, she had to "beg and grovel" to get the donations to cover the current changes.
"It's always a tricky thing with nonprofits," she said. "You don't want to be frivolous but some things have to be done."
She said this renovation fit into that have-to-be-done category.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
Heritage & Ski Museum grand re-opening
The Ketchum-Sun Valley Heritage & Ski Museum is celebrating its grand reopening and 15th anniversary on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. The museum is at Ketchum's Forest Service Park at First Street and Washington Avenue.
Usual operating hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. Admission is free but donations can be made.
Murphy Kendall, daughter of Ketchum-Sun Valley Heritage & Ski Museum Director Megan Lengyel, stands in the renovated museum’s Gretchen Fraser wing. Fraser, a former Sun Valley resident, was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing, earning it for slalom in 1948. Photo by Willy Cook
